Let warning bells ring louder than jingle bells this holiday season
Cybercrime is a constant, disruptive threats, and AI is making attacks easier than ever.
Key Takeaways
- The holiday season drives a spike in cybercrime as criminals exploit distractions, so organisations must stay vigilant.
- Organisations should boost security awareness by engaging employees with creative, memorable training on real-world threats.
- Strong passwords, two-factor authentication and other core security practices remain essential to reduce risk.
A special time of year for cyber criminals
As the holiday season approaches, cybercrime shows no signs of slowing down. While this time of year is for celebration, relaxation, and merrymaking, also it has also become a special time of year for cyber criminals. They’ll happily take advantage of the distraction during one of the busiest seasons for many organisations.
If cyber criminals are ramping up their efforts, your organisation should too. Here’s three ways your organisation can stay vigilant and secure during this time.
1. “Extra-connect” with your people
The end of year is a critical time to “extra-connect” with your people, to reinforce the types of threats or scams that could arise and how they can stay secure.
Ensure your employees are equipped with essential security knowledge and assess their ability to manage potential risks. Try increasing the number of relevant Phishing Tests, some clever posters on walls, or some desktop wallpaper. Another way to avoid the “not more compliance training” moans is to have brown bag lunch sessions for 20-30 minutes and speak about current cyber events. This will ultimately embed the importance of cyber security awareness across the organisation.
Make cyber security awareness as personal to your people as possible. If your employees understand the risk to them personally, they may think twice about clicking the link on that surprise gift card.
2. Scan your perimeter
Think about the threat actors who are realistically interested in your organisation. State-based actors make the news, but unless you’re the military your concerns are likely run-of-the-mill criminals interested in one thing – money and fraud.
Ever wondered why Mr. Claus squeezes down the chimney instead of using the front door? Cyber criminals have figured out the shortcut. It’s important to remember that hackers don’t always spend months plotting complex attacks on your organisation. They are opportunistic in nature and are scanning the internet for easy ways in like the front door.
Proactively assess your perimeter and understand your assets. The best cyber teams in the world have blind spots, so it’s crucial to continually scan, address vulnerabilities, and make it harder attackers to gain access.
An unsecured API, unauthenticated services, and inherently insecure services like FTP, TELNET, especially those that don’t encrypt user credentials – are all easy targets for attackers. Recent breaches in the news are prime examples of how blind spots have turned into major security incidents. Know and mitigate your risks wherever you can.
3. Don’t forget the fundamentals
You’ve heard them over and over again and they remain as relevant as ever. For personal and professional security:
- Strengthen your passwords or forget them completely and start using passphrases.
- Use two-factor authentication on any service where it is available.
- Watch out for unusual unsolicited requests for personal information or calls to action associated with your accounts.
- Think before you click!
For your organisational security
- Educate your team on the fundamentals (as outlined above). Reinforce this knowledge regularly.
- Scan your perimeter, understand your assets, and limit your risk.
- Upgrade your devices and software in line with your patching policy.
- Interactive is here to help 24/7/365 days a year.
